Just five games into his tenure with the New Orleans Pelicans, forward Nikola Mirotic has already accomplished something he’d never previously done over his four-year NBA career: consecutive nights of 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds. The trade acquisition’s contributions were critical in Saturday’s double-overtime victory at Brooklyn (21 and 16), as well as Monday’s relatively comfortable win in Detroit (21 and 12). In the 11 days since making his New Orleans debut Feb. 3 in Minnesota, Mirotic has appeared to grow increasingly acclimated to his new team.
“He’s the type of player who spaces the floor, gets a lot of rebounds,” said Jrue Holiday after Wednesday’s morning shootaround, as New Orleans prepared to host the Lakers tonight at 7.